584 



T'H® rn'mmmivmrn mm'm j&'&mmMEt. 



uo worse than her progenitors did, 

 perhaps millions of years ago ? 



[The bee is a much older inhabitant 

 of the earth than man, its fossil re- 

 mains having been found (at Olninger, 

 Baden) in rocks of the tertiary forma- 

 tion, a geological period of unknown 

 antiquity prior to the appearance of the 

 human race.] But yet, in all her per- 

 formances as well as in all those per- 

 haps even more wonderful of the 

 worker-bee, there is no want of an in- 

 telligent adaptation of means to the 

 end in all the varying cases or circum- 

 stances that may arise. 



It would perhaps be more correct to 

 say that with insects, as with all the 

 inferior animals, their actions are 

 prompted or started instinctively, but 

 are guided by a more or less develop- 

 ed intelligence, partaking, in some 

 degree at least, of the quality which in 

 man we call reason. The gradations 

 of this quality within the range be- 

 tween what we may call the lowest and 

 the highest of the inferior animals are 

 vastly different, and somewhere be- 

 tween it and the higher reasoning 

 power of man there is, no doubt, a 

 gulf which no power of mere natural 

 evolution can ever bridge across ; but 

 each class of animals has been gifted 

 with that degree of intelligence which 

 is suitable for his place in the great 

 scheme of creation. All this is ad- 

 mirably put by Pope in the first part 

 of his essay on " Man :" 



" Far as creation's ample range extends 

 The scale of sensual mental powers ascends, 

 Mark how it mounts to man's imperial race. 

 From the green myriads in the peopled grass. 



How instinct varies in the grovelling swine 

 Compared, half-reasoning elephant.with thine! 

 'Twixt that and reason what a nice barrier 

 For ever separate, yet forevernear." 



And again, in the third part of the 

 same poem, with the verses beginning, 



" Whether with reason or with instinct bless'd. 

 Know all enjoy that power which suits them 

 best ;" 



And concluding with the very striking 

 lines, 



" And reason raise o'er instinct as you can. 

 In this 'tis God directs, in that 'tis man." 



Here Pope has hit the mark as to 

 the great and characteristic diflerence 

 between instinct reason. However 

 deservedly the latter is made to rank 

 as a much higher form of mental de- 

 velopment, surely the former must 

 appear, to a reflective mind, by far the 

 most wonderful, and therefore in- 

 tensely interesting to trace in the ac- 

 tions of the lower animals. In it we 

 can see most plainly the operation of 

 that " Power and Divinity " which St. 

 Paul says, "Since the creation of the 

 world are clearly seen, being visible in 

 the things that are made." 



While watching the operations of 

 the bee building its comb, or the 



spider forming its web, are we not 

 naturally led to feel with the Psalmist 

 that it must indeed be an unwise man 

 who " hath said in his heart, there is 

 no God ;" and must we not, while thus 

 witnessing the working of that intelli- 

 gence which we know cannot be at- 

 tributed to the insect itself, realize 

 with a solemn feeling that we are 

 brought face to face, as it were, with 

 that Divine Providence all whose at- 

 tributes are infinite ; in whose eye 

 nothing that we can conceive of the 

 vastness of the universe can appear 

 large — nothing that the most powerful 

 microscope discovers to our sense of 

 vision can appear small — and to whom 

 we in common with our humbler fel- 

 low-creature, the Insect, are alike in- 

 debted for existence, and for whatever 

 degree of intelligence, instinctive or 

 reasoning, we are enabled to exercise? 



PASTURAGE. 



It 



Pays to Plant Sweet Clover 

 for Honey. 



Written for the Western Plowman 



BY C. H. DIBBEBN. 



We would like to have some of the 

 bee-keepers go with us to our sweet 

 clover patch, at any time from day- 

 light till dark, and watch the myriads 

 of bees, busily darting from one clus- 

 ter of bloom to another, and then 

 claim that planting for honey does not 

 pay ! While it is a little diflicult to 

 determine just the quantity of honey 

 the bees can gather from an acre of 

 sweet clover, I know too much of the 

 instinct and habits of bees, that all this 

 wonderful activity is not for nothing. 



I know that the four acres of this 

 bloom is out of all proportion to the 

 160 colonies of bees we now have here, 

 to say nothing of stranger bees that 

 no doubt visit us. Had we 20 acres of 

 this sweet clover, I feel sure we would 

 now be doubling up our supers, and 

 we would soon be able to oiier our cus- 

 tomers as fine an article of sweet clover 

 honey as was ever produced. Where 

 land is cheap, I see nothing that would 

 pay better for bee-keepers, than a lib- 

 eral number of acres in sweet clover ; 

 and what a grand plant it is for im- 

 proving the fertility of poor clay hills 

 and worn-out lands ! 



But your timid farmer is fearfully 

 afraid that his lands will become 

 seeded down with this "pest." Well, 

 it does have staying qualities, and that 

 is the best part of it. It is easily got- 

 ten rid of, however ; just don't let it 

 go to seed for a year or two, and the 

 job is done. Some years ago we gave 

 up a patch, containing about an acre, 

 that had been in sweet clover for 5 or 



6 years, and it was turned into pasture. 

 It was a sight to see the cattle nipping 

 the tender shoots as it came up in the 

 spring, and all summer long they kept 

 it close to the ground. 



This was 3 years ago, and now you 

 could go over the ground and never 

 suspect that it was once covered with 

 this "pest" higher than one's head, so 

 thick that one could scarcely get 

 through it. Land in our neighborhood 

 sells from $100 to $1,000 per acre, and 

 rents are correspondingly high, and 

 yet I believe it pays me to have a few 

 acres in this excellent bee-plant. 



Now, would it not pay those bee- 

 keepers, who have plenty of cheap 

 lauds, that would be greatly benefitted 

 by it ? Never mind about the seeds ; 

 that is all moonshine, and just remem- 

 ber that when you see an occasional 

 stalk of this magnificent plant — showy, 

 fragrant and useful— it has probably 

 crowded out the jimson, burdock, or 

 rag-weed. Yes, sir, it pays to plant 

 for honey ! 



THE HONEY CROP OF 1890. 



"What shall the harvest be ?" Well, 

 as far as our choice (white clover 

 honey) is concerned, it will be a very 

 slim one. From many letters received 

 from all parts of the West, I conclude 

 that not one-fourth of a crop will be 

 secured. The only section that seems 

 to be having a tine crop of honey, are 

 the New England States. Well, honey 

 ought to be honey this year, and bring 

 a fair price. Perhaps the rains we are 

 now having will give us a crop of fall 

 honey. At any rate, we must do the 

 best we can, even if we have to resort 

 to the sugar-barrel, to provide stores 

 to winter our bees. The good years 

 will come again, if we but have 

 patience to wait. 



Milan, Ills. 



CARNIOLANS. 



How 



tliey are Regarded by an 

 Eastern Apiarist. 



Written for the Amerwan Bee Journal 



BY E. L. PRATT. 



My Carniolan bees have done nobly 

 this season, both at swarming-time 

 and in honey-gathering. By " swarm- 

 ing-time " I mean they have not 

 swarmed to excess, as some writers 

 try to impress upon the minds of all 

 their readers. 



If it were possible to furnish all 

 pure stock to every man, the praise of 

 this race of honej'-becs would be long 

 and loud. The Carniolans will make 

 their way against all that is said in 

 opposition to them. They are a noble 

 race, possessing points, when fully de- 



